Page 16 of Deadly Forever

“How did you find that?” Mandy asked, genuinely curious. She previously worked in the circuit court system and knew that juvenile criminal files weren’t readily accessible to reporters.

“I asked Peter to help me,” Sophie admitted, her cheeks coloring. Peter Marconi, Sophie’s adopted father, had his hand in every criminal pot in the area thanks to his mafia connections. “I know it’s not exactly ethical, but with the wedding coming up and the fact that we were involved in all of this … well … I want answers and I don’t have time to go through normal routes.”

“I’m not faulting you,” James offered. “I would’ve done the same thing.”

“I’m faulting myself a little,” Sophie admitted, tugging a strand of her long dark hair behind her ear. “I mostly follow the rules when I’m working. I guess it’s a matter of work pride or something, I don’t know. This time, though … this whole thing stinks to high Heaven.”

“What do you mean?” James was confused. “It sounds to me as if these kids got in over their heads and had no idea how to get out of some conundrum we haven’t yet discovered. I mean, it could be drugs or something as simple as entitlement.”

“What do you mean by that?” Mandy asked.

“Sophie said these kids came from financially stable families,” James explained. “They might’ve asked their parents for money – expecting to get whatever they wanted because history told them that would happen – but instead they were turned down. They might’ve figured they would get whatever they wanted by alternative means.”

“Yes, but that doesn’t make a lot of sense,” Mandy pointed out. “I mean, if your parents told you they wouldn’t buy you an iPhone … or expensive shoes … or even a new car, would you resort to taking weapons to the mall to get what you want?”

“No, but I like to think of myself as a mostly ethical person,” James answered. “Other than sexually harassing you all day – and you are going to be paid in sweat and spankings, don’t think you’re getting out of that – I tend to be a rule follower.”

Mandy’s snort caught James off guard.

“I do,” James said, adopting a defensive tone. “When don’t I follow the rules?”

“Whenever I’m in danger,” Mandy replied, unruffled. “I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, but you break rules all of the time. You don’t do it in a manner that’s dangerous to others, though. These kids did. I want to know why.”

“You can join the club on that one,” Sophie said. “I’m dying to know why they did it, too. It doesn’t make sense.”

“What are you going to do about the sealed file?” James asked.

“I’m going to see if Peter can unseal it,” Sophie replied matter-of-factly. “If he can’t, then I’m going to have to figure out another way to approach it.”

“Like?”

Sophie shrugged. “I was hoping Mandy might be able to pay Judge MacIntosh a visit to see if he can unseal the file.”

Mandy balked. She loved her former boss and she wasn’t keen on pressuring him to break the rules. “I’m not stopping for a visit just so he can give me something that he shouldn’t legally be giving me.”

“Fine,” Sophie said, holding up her hands and blowing out a sigh. “I guess we’ll have to prepare ourselves for the fact that we may never know why this happened. That’s really going to ruin my honeymoon, though. Ah, well, what can you do? I mean, you get more than one honeymoon, right? Oh, wait. You don’t, do you?”

Mandy narrowed her eyes into dangerous blue slits. “You’re playing dirty.”

“I’m not asking you to do it yet,” Sophie pointed out. “I’m just saying that down the road … well … I might ask you to do it. The question is: Will you say yes?”

Mandy bit her lip as she darted a conflicted look in James’ direction. He seemed as bothered by the prospect as she was. “I don’t know,” she said finally. “I’ll have to give it some thought.”

“You do that,” Sophie said, unbothered by Mandy’s reticence. “If we’re lucky, Peter will be able to suss out the truth for us. If not, well, we’ll go from there.”

“What’s your next move?” James asked. “It’s not as if school is in session. How are you going to track down students to get information?”

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Sophie said, pursing her lips. “I always manage to get information if I need it.”

James couldn’t help but smile. She was dogged when in pursuit of a story. It was one of the things he liked best about her. “Well, good luck. I’ll have Maverick start digging on our end. He might be able to find out some stuff, too.”

“That’s good,” Sophie said. “I have a feeling this story is going to get convoluted before we reach the end.”

“What makes you say that?” Mandy asked.

“It’s just a feeling,” Sophie replied, shrugging. “There’s something big here. I can feel it.”

“Well, we’ll do what we can to find out what that is,” James said. “I’m not going to be able to rest until all of the questions are answered.”

“None of us are,” Mandy said, sliding her hand on top of his. “We’ll do this together. We’re a family, after all. That’s the way it should be.”

“Definitely,” James agreed, bobbing his head. “Well, if that’s all, I need to take my assistant back to the office and start the spanking. We’ll be in touch later.”

Mandy was scandalized. “James!”

“Oh, don’t pretend you don’t like it,” James teased. “I’ll do it with a feather and that edible oil you like so much if that will make you feel better.”

Mandy heaved out an exasperated sigh. “You’re such a pig.”

“Oink, oink, baby. As my assistant for the day, I think you’ve earned a profound bonus.”

Surprisingly enough, Mandy found she wasn’t troubled by the prospect. “Fine, but you’d better not get out of hand and making a bunch of noise. I don’t want everyone in the office to know what we’re doing.”

“You’re such a prude.”

“That’s not going to get you what you want.”

“I love you anyway,” James said, smacking a kiss against her lips. “Now, come on, wife. Your boss wants to get bossy.”